Induction Heating

By James Farol Metcalf

Rowan's Account of Firing Consarc President

From Rowan's Book: "The Fire Within" copyrighted 1995.

"For Wooding, the end came at a board meeting at Consarc in February 1973. The agenda called for the election of corporate officers, and the outcome seemed predetermined. The five-man board was comprised of J, his friend from Consarc Power Corporation, George Johnston, Roy Ruble, Bob Hotchkin, and myself. Wooding and Johnston could be counted on to preserve the Englishman's interests, while Hotch, Roy and I were determined to save Consarc.

Wooding was beside himself at that evening meeting. There was no doubt in my mind that, while subconsciously he yearned for independence, his conscious mind was fighting for the survival of the status quo and the prestige that being CEO of Consarc had brought him.

He sneered and fidgeted and stalled, fully aware that I planned to remove him as president of Consarc. But it wouldn't happen that day; he protested that he had not been given sufficient notice to prepare for a board meeting, as it had been called a few days short of the 10 days advance notice required by the bylaws.

He had us on a technicality; so Hotchkin, Roy, and I picked up our papers advising the Englishman we'd see him in another two weeks, on February 26, 1973.

The next meeting was like something out of The Exorcist. Besides George Johnston and the two lawyers he'd hired, Wooding arrived at the Consarc board room with a priest who had flown in from Ireland, presumably to provide moral support for Consarc's soon-to-be-ex-CEO. We had invited a local lawyer to join us so as to avoid any technical oversight.

An air of ritual hung over the proceedings which began with Wooding's lawyers examining the bylaws and confirming the validity of the board meeting. With that business out of the way, we nominated and voted on a new slate of officers. Wooding's name was conspicuously absent; to all intents and purposes, he now was fired."